"We basically decided to give it a try. I thought it wasn't going to happen, so it was extremely exciting," said Dr. Valeria Canto-Soler, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at JHU who helped create the retina.

There were a lot of surprises for Canto-Soler and her team.

"When we first started seeing that we were able to get a retina that looked very similar to an actual human retina, we got very excited," said researcher Christian Gutierrez. "The fact that it responded to light was like icing on the cake."

The group was able to produce the retina using adult stem cells, and as researchers worked on it, they discovered there was more than meets the eye.

"The most surprising part was to see that the cells were doing it almost on their own. They seemed to know what to do, and they were doing much better than what we could do ourselves," Canto-Soler said.

The cells were also able to respond to light, which is a characteristic of a functioning retina. The team has since been able to generate hundreds of miniature retinas.

"You can do lots of things that you couldn't do in the patient, so we can start understanding much better what are the mechanisms that are leading to that disease in that particular patient, and that can be applied to many other patients at the same time," Canto-Soler said.

That could eventually lead to helping patients who are losing their sight.

It took researchers at Hopkins four years to create the retina, and there has been little time to celebrate because they have a long way to go.

"If we can discover or generate something that can help someone regain just a little bit of their function, it is worth the effort, even if it takes many, many years and a lot of hard work," Canto-Soler said.

She said that could be 10 years or more from now; however, there are benefits in the short term, too. The lab-made retina could also be used to test medications for patients with eye disease.

MANY OF THE CEREALS TESTED WERE NOT POPULAR AMONG CHILDREN. IF YOU THINK SEEING IS BELIEVING YOU'LL WANT TO WATCH THIS STORY. RESEARCHERS AT JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE CREATED A RETINA THAT'S SENSITIVE TO LIGHT. IT COULD MEAN HUGE STRIDES IN HELPING PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND ONE DAY SEE. 11 NEWS REPORTER MEGAN PRINGLE SHOWS US HOW RESEARCHERS DID IT. WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT COULD ONE DAY BE THE CURE TO B LINDNESS. THEY CREATED THIS I IN A DISH -- EYE IN A DISH. I THOUGHT IT WAS NOT POINT TO HAPPEN. THERE WAS A LOT OF SURPRISES FOR DR. VALERIE AND HER TEAM. WE WERE ABLE TO GET A RETINA THAT LOOKED VERY SIMILAR TO ACTUAL HUMAN RETINAS, AND WE GOT VERY EXCITED. THEY WERE ABLE TO PRODUCE A LAB MADE RETINA WITH ADULT STEM CELLS. THE MOST SURPRISING PART WAS TO SEE THAT THEY WERE DOING MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT WE CAN DO OURSELVES. THEY ARE ABLE TO RESPOND TO LIGHT WHICH IS A ERICA DURANCE TO QUIT FUNCTIONING RETINA. NOW THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GENERATE HUNDREDS OF MANY RETINAS -- MINI RETINAS. WE CAN UNDERSTAND MUCH BETTER WHAT ARE THE MECHANISMS THAT LEAD TO THAT. THEY CAN HELP PATIENTS WERE LOSING THEIR SITE. THERE IS LITTLE TIME TO CELEBRATE, BUT WHILE THE KNOWLEDGE THIS IS A HUGE A PUBLISHED MET THEY HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO -- THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THIS IS A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR BUT THEY HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. WE WANT TO GIVE THEM A LITTLE BIT OF FUNCTION EVEN IF IT TAKES MANY YEARS. THERE ARE BENEFITS IN THE SHORT TERM. THE LAB MADE RETINA COULD BE USED TO TEST OUT MEDICATIONS FOR PATIENTS WITH EYE DISEASE.